About a week ago I was approached by several concerned citizens regarding the issuance of camping permits for July 4 weekend and the summer months. As you are probably aware, the competition for camping permits for July 4 was so fierce that people were literally "camping" at Satellite City Halls around the state for days to reserve their space in line to vie for permits.

Due to the limited number of available camping spaces, these citizens made the following suggestions, some of which they said are modeled after what's being done in other areas, such as Kualoa Park:

1) During the summer only, open some of the city parks that are currently closed at night for camping, eg, Pokai Bay, "Middle Park" on Pokai Bay St., etc.;

2) During the summer only, open some of the state parks for camping, eg, Makua, Keawaula, etc.;

3) ...limit camping permits to 5 per year per household/address.

Other comments they made were: 1) ...public camping areas at Keaau Beach [are very limited]; 2) Special events often dominate the camping areas at Maili Beach Park, such as the 4th of July Event, Sunset on the Beach, etc.; and 3) Sewer's Beach lacks swimming areas for children (although it is a good park for fishing).

Let me know if you have any feedback regarding these requests, or if there is anything I can do to help address this issue.

Mahalo, Maile

[Note: These citizens, along with many others in the community, also urged lawmakers to set aside land where the homeless would be allowed to camp. I agree with this suggestion, and will continue to try to pursue it.]

Rep. Maile Shimabukuro

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